Court Proceedings

In a judgement dated 14 March 2025 - 7 HK O 50/23, which was obtained by HÄRTING Rechtsanwälte, the Regional Court of Trier ruled that a cease-and-desist declaration obtained by the IDO Interessenverband für das Rechts- und Finanzconsulting deutscher Online-Unternehmen e.V. (IDO) could be effectively terminated due to abuse of rights. Exceptionally, this cancellation also had retroactive effect on a contractual penalty that had already been claimed but not yet paid. The court found that the IDO may not demand contractual penalties because it lacks the authority to issue warnings as long as it is not entered in the list of trade associations of the Federal Office of Justice.

When does a customer review become advertising that must be attributed to the provider of a product? German courts have been dealing with this question for quite some time. The Bochum Regional Court (judgement of 21 November 2024 - 14 O 65/24) now had to decide in the case of a coffee roasting company, thereby supplementing the prevailing case law.

With its decision today, the Federal Court of Justice has confirmed Apple's cross-market significance for competition. The group, which is the most valuable company in the world with a market value of over 3 trillion US dollars, is now subject to increased supervision by the Federal Cartel Office.

The rental costs for the additionally booked router must be listed in the contract summary for Internet and landline tariff contracts. This was decided by the Higher Regional Court of Cologne in its judgement of 10.01.2025 - 6 U 68/24.

Fair financial burden sharing or a dam break for the financing of public security policy? In its judgement last Tuesday, the Federal Constitutional Court ruled that the levying of fees for police operations at high-risk matches at the expense of the DFL in the form of the Bremen fee schedule is constitutional. Is the decision correct? Is the confirmed procedure for charging fees in Bremen a fair distribution of the financial burden or is it a breach of the dam for the private financing of public security policy? An overview:

The Munich Regional Court partially ruled in favour of Arne Schönbohm in the legal dispute against ZDF. Four out of five statements from a ZDF Magazin Royal programme were classified as inadmissible factual claims and their dissemination was prohibited. However, Schönbohm did not receive any monetary compensation.

Even in times of the "eSports Winter," the gaming industry continues to grow steadily and has become one of the largest entertainment media in the world. Last year alone, the industry's revenue in Germany rose to nearly 10 billion euros. Innovative game concepts and unique game designs are crucial for the success of video games. The competition for media attention and players is fierce. It is not uncommon for basic concepts and game ideas of successful games to be adopted by competitors to offer similar games and benefit from the hype of the original game. It is therefore not surprising that legal proceedings in the industry are also increasing. The Cologne Regional Court recently dealt comprehensively with the copyright protection of game concepts and the limits of imitation.

The long-awaited ECJ judgement in the case of Deutsche Wohnen SE against the Berlin public prosecutor's office has just been published. (C-807/21)

Oliver Pocher to cease and desist from publishing and distributing film sequences showing Boris Becker due to a violation of his right to his own likeness in accordance with Section 22 KUG.